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NAVY NEWS, JANUARY 2012
Mich parades with her ‘boys’
Busy time for staff at President FOR Lt Tony Scott, the Remembrance ceremony in the Lloyds of London Underwriting Room brought together the two elements of his working life. The Reservist from HMS President was one of the officers and ratings lining the floor while underwriters, brokers and other staff looked on as the historic Lutine Bell was rung to observe the two-minute silence. “It has been a privilege working in this iconic building for my day job,” said Lt Scott, who chairs Lloyd’s IT Strategy and Architecture Team in civilian life. “Having my Lloyd’s and RNR colleagues together for this important ceremony made it all the more significant.” Members of President also had high-profile roles in the City of London Lord Mayor’s Show as well as at other Remembrance events, including Westminster Abbey and Cathedral, St Paul’s Cathedral and at the Royal Naval Great Lines War Memorial at Chatham.
AFTER serving tirelessly providing life saving front-line medical cover to the Royal Scots Dragoon Guards and the 4 Scots, Naval Reservist AB Michelle ‘Mich’ Ping has paraded through the streets of Inverness and Aberdeen with her fellow servicemen and women from the 4th Battalion the Royal Regiment of Scots (4 Scots).
Often in the midst of fierce gun battles Mich administered life-saving medical cover for the soldiers around her, and she admitted that “it was the hardest thing that I have ever done.” On regular foot patrols Mich lived for days at a time in some “right holes with the boys.” On one occasion, under rocket and heavy machine gun attack, Mich showed enormous fortitude, courage On Wednesday November and resilience to provide first 30 and Friday December 2 aid to a wounded colleague the pavements of Inverness stuck on a very exposed roof and Aberdeen were packed in an extremely dangerous with people waving flags and position. cheering on the Servicemen And on more than one and women as they marched occasion she also found past. herself not maintaining a The public had turned helicopter – her RNR role out to welcome back the – but flying in one providing troops, who recently ad-hoc medical support. returned from operations in In her civilian career, Afghanistan. Mich is a paramedic with Mich was an integral part the Yorkshire Ambulance of front-line operations on Service, working in Leeds deployment in Afghanistan, l AB Mich Ping pictured outside Inverness as part of their gritty where she made an Castle Picture: Mark Owens Hazardous Area Response outstanding contribution Team. Aberdeen and Inverness with my using life-saving medical But as an Air Engineering fellows in arms.” cover – a classic example of a Mechanic in the Royal Naval Pitched into the realities Maritime Reservist bringing Reserve (RNR), Mich is vital, specialist civilian skills to a of insurgent war fighting in an experienced helicopter Afghanistan, Mich always kept military role. technician. She has been a Reservist for 13 Of the homecoming parade, pace with “her soldiers” and years, and was in the regular Royal Mich said: “It was an honour reflected that “I was nothing Navy for six years. and a privilege to parade in both without my boys.”
l ABs Ben Adams, Sarah Newby and David Connon
Trio blaze trail at HMS Raleigh THREE Royal Naval Reservists have become the first to complete the newly-enhanced ten-week Initial Naval Training course introduced for full-time ratings at HMS Raleigh. As part of a Maritime Reserves pilot, ABs Ben Adams, Sarah Newby and David Connon joined an entry of 52 regular recruits who started in September. Following intensive training the successful recruits marched on for their passing-out parade. AB Newby, a member of HMS Sherwood in Nottingham, joined the RNR in October 2010. “Although exhausting at times, Raleigh has been the best and most enjoyable ten weeks that I could have asked for,” she said. “I have come away with a great sense of achievement and I’m looking forward to continuing my training as I specialise in the Warfare Seaman Reserve branch.” AB Adams joined HMS Cambria, based in Wales, in February last year and in civilian life works as an insurance broker. His sister, Catherine, is serving in the Royal Navy as a Writer, based at HMS Nelson. AB Connon works as a scuba diving instructor and lives in Kent.
Cdr Malcolm Pollock, Staff Officer, Maritime Reserves, said: “The pilot scheme was to assess whether it was credible for us to pull people quickly through training, so instead of taking several years to become trained it could happen in ten weeks. “The advantages of this approach is two-fold – it means a Reservist has a much quicker transition to trained strength, and they can utilise spare time they may have in the long summer holidays in between college terms and get paid at the same time. It’s a win-win all round.” The pilot also fits in with the concept of the Future Reserves 2020 ambition of considerably increasing the Reserves component as an integral part of the RN; reducing the training pipeline time will increase capacity more quickly. Cdr John Twine, Commander Training at Raleigh, said: “With the Government’s drive to increase the role of the Reservist forces in the future the initiative of accelerating the training pipeline of the RNR recruits makes complete sense. “It also helps us to utilise some of the irreducible spare capacity we currently have as recruiting to the regular service is still operating at a reduced level. “Under the Initial Naval Training project we are striving to make the regular and reservist recruits interchangeable, and therefore by training alongside each other both sets of recruits will have a common understanding of what each other does and a mutual respect gained from shared experiences. “When I inspected the passing out class the distinction between the two sets of recruits was not obvious at all, meaning that everyone had achieved the same high standard.”
l AB Christian Rawling leads the Chelsea team onto the pitch at Stamford Bridge
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Fruitful visit to Stamford Bridge
RESERVISTS from HMS President in London raised over £2,500 for the Royal British Legion during October’s ChelseaArsenal Premier League match at Stamford Bridge. A dozen officers and ratings from London’s RNR unit joined other Service personnel to sell poppies to the crowd, helping to raise over £8,000. “This money will help to make sure we can continue to care and campaign for our Armed Forces and their families, both today and in the future,” said Graham Akins of the Royal British Legion. WO Tony Matthews and LS Ant Peacock were particularly successful in their collecting – the pair raised over £700 on the day, thanks largely to a visit to the very
generous media suite. AB Christian Rawling had the honour of leading the teams onto the pitch. “It was a fantastic experience all round, but walking out with the players, with the whole crowd cheering us on, is something I will never forget,” Christian said. The Royal Naval Reservists’ participation in the day’s events was organised by Arsenal fan S/Lt Richard Notley. “HMS President collected over 30 per cent of the entire total, which was a fantastic effort considering we were very much outnumbered on the day,” he said. “But the real winners on the day were the Royal British Legion. Oh, and Arsenal, of course...”
LT CDR Richard ‘Dickie’ Lewis has been awarded the Queen’s Voluntary Reserve Medal for his outstanding service as Air Operations Officer and Sea King observer in the RNR. Dickie is currently serving with 849 Naval Air Squadron at RN Air Station Culdrose,
where his skill and experience as an Airborne Surveillance and Control (ASaC) Observer are highly valued, particularly during current operations in Afghanistan. The officer, accompanied by his wife and other members of his family, was presented with his medal at Buckingham Palace.
Dickie presented with medal
Afghan Meadows A RESERVIST on deployment in Afghanistan hopes to extend his service until next January – by which time he will have put in almost 45 years for the Naval Service. Lt Cdr ‘Grassy’ Meadows (above) is a Media Operations Officer who is on a six-month tour in the Force Effects Coordination Centre in the HQ of Regional Command (SW) in Camp Leatherneck, Helmand Province. The experienced officer, on his third operational tour, is the Deputy Communications Strategy Officer working directly to an RAF group captain. His responsibilities include coordinating the Public Affairs Group, information operations and all Military Information Support Operations sections, and he has a crucial role in the visits by VIPs to the area, including senior UK, US and NATO politicians and senior officers.